Merkel's acceptance speech
Angela Merkel's acceptance speech as president of Germany's CDU was particularly assured for a woman from East Germany, who was born after the foundation of the CDU. Possibly her period thinking about the alternatives to East German state socialism has given her a theoretical base which she can combine with skilled manoeuvring as the CDU tries to extricate itself from the era of illegal funding under Kohl. Significant were the the tilt away from centralisation of Europe in Brussels and the gesture of solidarity with Austria's People's Party, which has gone into coalition with Haider's Freedom Party. It echoes a sharpening of the rhetoric by the British Conservative Party against immigrants. Chris Burford London
jobs
The following job listing might be of interest to people on pen-l. Feel free to repost it. Contacts follow the message. I can answer informal questions about Galway, etc. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh National University of Ireland, Galway Applications are invited for the following fulltime permanent positions: Junior Lectureships in Economics (2 posts) The Department of Economics wishes to invite applicants for the above posts. The appointees will contribute to the general teaching of the Department as well as to two inter-disciplinary programmes, namely, a B.Sc. in Financial Mathematics and Economics and a B.A. in Public and Social Policy. Although applications are invited from all areas of the discipline, the Department would like, in particular, to attract candidates who have good quantitative skills, including survey techniques and data handling skills, and whose teaching and research interests include one or more of the following: Financial Economics, Monetary Economics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, and Cost-Benefit Analysis. Applicants should have a postgraduate degree in economics (a Ph.D. is, considered desirable), have good communication skills and demonstrated research capacity. Further information on the Department of Economics is available on its web page: http//www.nuigalway.ie/ecn/ For informal discussion, contact: Professor Michael Cuddy Department of Economics, Tel: 353-91-750324 Fax: 353-91-524130 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 5th May, 2000 Further information may be obtained from: The Personnel Office, National University of Ireland, Galway. Telephone enquiries: (091) 524411 Ext. 3579 (091) 750360 (Direct) Fax No: (091) 750523 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER __ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Re: Re: Good review of guns, germs, steel
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You wrote: Who is You? Carrol
Re: Re: Good review of guns, germs, steel
Paul quotes someone from off the list: Also, it's [Diamond's book is] so grand in its ambition that historically specific moments come off looking merely like manifestations of general, immutable laws. So much for agency, responsibility, and finally politics, or the notion that anything could have been (could be) different. and adds: It has always seemed to me to be a socialist fundamental that people make themselves, as Marx says, not necessarily in conditions of their own making. This kind of biological/geographic determinism I find to be contrary to human agency and human will and therefore of the genus of Eugenics and fascism. Diamond's geographic determinism -- which is not a biological determinism really -- is not totally deterministic except at a very abstract level over long periods of time. Further, it doesn't apply to the era after 1500 or so. There is only one race, the human race For what it's worth, Diamond would agree that there's only one race. Though genetic variation plays a role in his theory (mostly, it's a matter of resistance to disease), for him the most important differences are cultural and technological. Ethnic divisions within it are cultural, not genetic. Human experience is conditioned by geography, climate, the availability of resources, the social and economic institutions both within and without the local cultures -- ie. by conditions not of our making. Diamond would agree. I can not believe that any socialist could take socio-biology seriously given this context. Diamond is not a sociobiologist. This is especially true because he recognizes that cultural and technological change have replaced genetic change as the main dynamics of human "evolution" (something that anthropologists have known for decades). Sociobiologists think that analogies between ants and people are somehow revealing. Diamond does not. It seems to me that if one is interested in filling the gaps in historical materialism (say, in Engels' book on the origins of the state, etc.), one has to avoid an instinctual repugnance for non-Marxian research. (I guess Louis Proyect sees Engels' book and the like as complete, so that such research is "banal.") That doesn't mean that one should accept Diamond's work (or any other) uncritically, though. That's why my review was not only adulatory but critical. Look, Diamond is a liberal, not a radical, Marxist, or socialist. But that doesn't mean we should reject his research _tout court_. If so, we'd have to reject Keynes and the Canadian nationalists, too. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~JDevine/JDevine.html
optimism rules
From a rag sent to me (THE TEACHING ECONOMIST, Spring 2000, issue 18): "Now that the U.S. economy has achieved its longest expansion on record, macroeconomists are in danger of becoming underemployed, like the Maytag repairman sitting by the phone waiting for a call." Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: optimism rules
Jim Devine wrote: From a rag sent to me (THE TEACHING ECONOMIST, Spring 2000, issue 18): "Now that the U.S. economy has achieved its longest expansion on record, macroeconomists are in danger of becoming underemployed, like the Maytag repairman sitting by the phone waiting for a call." Uh-oh, end of the bizcycle talk again. Fasten your seat belts... Doug
Re: Re: optimism rules
I quoted: "Now that the U.S. economy has achieved its longest expansion on record, macroeconomists are in danger of becoming underemployed, like the Maytag repairman sitting by the phone waiting for a call." quoth Doug: Uh-oh, end of the bizcycle talk again. Fasten your seat belts... unless you think that it's a _good thing_ that (orthodox) macroeconomists are underemployed... too bad they're not. They rule the Fed, the IMF, the World Bank, etc. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
[Fwd: Fw: Fissures in the Globalist Ruling Bloc?] (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 13:15:05 -0400 From: Chris Chase-Dunn [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Fwd: Fw: Fissures in the Globalist Ruling Bloc?] -Original Message- From: Jim Davis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2000 10:32 AM Subject: Fissures in the Globalist Ruling Bloc? FISSURES IN THE GLOBALIST RULING BLOC? SEATTLE AND THE POLITICS OF GLOBALIZATION FROM ABOVE By Jerry Harris and Bill Robinson Globalization has become the main dynamic in the world today. We are witness to a new stage in the evolution of the capitalist system characterized by the hegemony of transnational capital and the rise of a new global capitalist ruling bloc. At the helm of this bloc is a transnational capitalist class based among the huge corporate and financial institutions that are integrating the world into a single productive apparatus. The globalist bloc has its corresponding representatives in the political parties, civil societies, and state apparatuses in both the developed and third world nations. The politics and policies of this bloc are conditioned by the new global structure of accumulation made possible by the revolution in information technology and new capitalist strategies of production and labor control fostered by these changes. The groups that make up the globalist bloc are united only in their defense of global capitalism. Beyond that, they have shifting alliances and competitive contradictions. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s they marched virtually unchallenged in building their new world order. But underneath their triumpet banners a host of contradictions have been building in intensity. Fissures within the bloc have now become more apparent in the face of mounting economic crises and a groundswell of resistance from popular classes around the world. These came together at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle last November in a way hitherto unseen. The WTO creates a concentrated crossroads for world politics and economics as the organization strives to build a new regulatory superstructure to house these global forces of production. Thus it also provides a forum where these tensions can explode in their most exposed form. Seattle witnessed this explosion as the birth of a new movement. Changes in the political landscape have been accelerating in scope since the Asian market crisis. Europe has been the scene of large-scale anti-global demonstrations for several years. But Northamericans seemed unaware of this growing movement, even as the United States fostered some of the most powerful transnationals, and housed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington. The struggle in Seattle went on inside the corridors and outside on the streets. While many observers have commented on the demonstrations, our purpose here is to concentrate retrospectively on the battles inside in order to, more broadly, highlight some of the major issues of debate within the globalist bloc. An analysis of the rising fissures within the globalist bloc may offer lessons for empancipatory action from below in the new century. There are, among others, three tactical and strategic issues we will discuss that are generating fissures in the summits of global power which became exposed in Seattle: 1) political tensions between dominant groups in the North and the South over the social crises that global capitalism has wrought; 2) a strategic split within the bloc between traditional neo-liberals and a "Third Way" or "softer" version of neo-liberalism; 3) recent shakeups at the IMF and the World Bank, reflective of these first two fissures, over how to reform the world financial system and bring greater order to the global economy. The WTO, Transnational Classes, and the Third World Prominent among the fanfare at Seattle was the apparently militant position a number of Third World ministers took up against their Northern counterparts, such as those from Brazil and India. This was interpreted by some observers as a contradiction between the Third World and the core in the new capitalist order, or even as a renewed anti-imperialism. Closer inspection, however, suggests the protests mainly represented a struggle within the globalist bloc, not an anti-imperialist contest between the Third World and the capitalist core. The complaints of Third World ministers at the WTO were a complex mix of calls for necessary reforms, anger over G-7 arrogance, and expressions of competitive pressures. While their grievances over the arrogant disregard of their concerns were justified, fundamentally they were demanding greater access to global markets for the Third World bourgeoisie and a greater role in managing the global economy, not its dismantlement. These Third World elites are as much part of the new global system as
guns, germs, steel
Jim Devine wrote: The fact that the Europeans conquered Africa and Asia ( which had had agriculture and the diseases you mention), as well as America ( the Central Americans and Peruvian/Colombian etc. Indians had agriculture too) seems to imply that there was something beyond agriculture and diseases that differentiated the Europeans from all the rest in the last 500 years. He argues that because of the ecological/geographical disunity of the Americas (mostly because of the North-South axis), the opportunities for developing a variety of different seeds was higher in Eurasia. Having more variety, there's a better chance of getting really good crops. I haven't read Diamond but his theory, if one can call it that, seems like a more sophistacted variant of the old Euro-centric theories that Europe advanced over the rest of the world because Africa and Asia lacked the physical resources necessary to build capitalist civilization e.g. tropical soils are inferior hence lower productivity agriculture, arid cultures require irrigation and such societies are necessarily stagnant. But other climates are not necessarrily inferior though they are different. There seems nothing new about Diamond. William Mcneil in his *Plagues and Peoples* defends the idea that mass demographic disasters are the prime mover in social change. For example, he argues that the black plague diffused out of inner China into central Asia and finally into Western Europe. The mass die off created a labor shortage that greatly strengthed the hand of the the Eurpean yeomanry in their struggle against the upper classes.(Brenner?) Further, Diamond seems to fall into the trap of using China as a test case for a theory about Europe. In assessing why China and other societies lacked dynamism and failed to develop,he is offering a theory about Europe yet what makes China China and Africa Africa cannot be learned from a theory about Europe. These societies need to be explained in their own right as Mao (ReporT From Hunan) and Mariategui (Seven Theses on Peru)realized early on. As for defences against disease, that is a matter of natural selection and played one of the primary causal roles in the destruction and conquest of indigenous cultures by Europeans though the spread of diseases was more often unconscious than conscious. The Europeans didn't want to destroy the natives(which they ended up doing), they needed christian converts and cheap labor. On a more abstract level, Diamond's ideas bear a prima facie similarity to a type of historical materialism defended by Alan Carling built on an analogy to natural selection (i don't think actual natural selection plays a role in Carling)where societies with lower development of productive forces are selected out by societies with higher development of pf's through a variety of causal mechanisms like superior weapons. I wonder of Diamond has read Carling. Sam Pawlett
Re: guns, germs, steel
Sam Pawlett wrote: On a more abstract level, Diamond's ideas bear a prima facie similarity to a type of historical materialism defended by Alan Carling built on an analogy to natural selection (i don't think actual natural selection plays a role in Carling)where societies with lower development of productive forces are selected out by societies with higher development of pf's through a variety of causal mechanisms like superior weapons. I wonder of Diamond has read Carling. I forgot to add that the Carling theory seems to beg the question since some societies have a higher level of pf's because they select out others without explaining how theses socities became that way in the first place. Sam Pawlett
FW: Rallies TOMORROW April 12th
fyi mbs Hey - tomorrow is a big day in terms of protests - not only is it the big labor rally against PNTR for China - we also just learned that Barshefsky is speaking downtown on "Trade at the Crossroads." We have organized an impromptu little rally for tomorrow at the St. Regis Hotel at 11:45 (see information below), and we expect to draw heavily from the A16 crowd. In addition, it would be good to have YOU there + your co-workers and interns etc. Come one - come many! Afterwards we'll head up to Capitol Hill to participate in the labor rally. THIS JUST IN - on Thursday WTO Director General, Michael Moore is speaking at the National Press Club at 12:30. We will probably organize something for that as well - so stay tuned for more information. Let me know if you plan to come tomorrow and also if you can bring some people. Look forward to seeing you there! Margrete =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Fair Trade not Free Trade Rally TOMORROW St. Regis Hotel @ 11:45 - 12:30 - April 12th (923 16th and K Street, NW, Farragut North or West Metro) Protest U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky (the U.S.' head negotiator for the WTO, "NAFTA for Africa" bill and the latest corporate attack - Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China) who is speaking to the National Policy Association on "Trade at the Crossroads." Seattle showed that people are demanding a new road when it comes to trade - the problem is that the corporate elites and the Clinton Administration don't get it! There can be no more WTO expansions or NAFTA agreements. There can be no more deals that are devastating to the environment, workers and consumers all over the world. We must draw the line in the sand against the corporate agenda and challenge free traders like Barshefsky at every turn. The price to get in is either $50 per person or $1000 to get a sponsor table - hardly doable for your average worker, environmentalist or activists. Just Say NO TO ELITE GLOBALIZATION! STOP the corporate take-over of China vis a vis Permanent Most Favored Nation Status. No WTO Expansion! Call Juliette Beck at 415-225-8197 or Margrete Strand at 202-454-5106 for more information. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Margrete Strand Rangnes Senior Organizer Public Citizen Global Trade Watch 215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE Washington DC, 20003 USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] + 202-454-5106 + 202-547 7392 (fax) To subscribe to our MAI Mailing List, send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or subscribe directly by going to our website, www.tradewatch.org (Please indicate organizational affiliation if any, and also where you found out about this list) To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Indicate which listserv you wish to be unsubscribed from. Search the MAI-NOT MAI-INTL archives at http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/mai-not =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
FW: [stop-imf] Bello: Close the IMF and World Bank
FOCUS ON TRADE Number 48, April 2000 Focus-on-Trade is a regular electronic bulletin providing updates and analysis of trends in regional and world trade and finance, with an emphasis on analysis of these trends from an integrative, interdisciplinary viewpoint that is sensitive not only to economic issues, but also to ecological, political, gender and social issues. Your contributions and comments are welcome. Please contact us c/o CUSRI, Wisit Prachuabmoh Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330 Thailand. Tel: (66 2) 218 7363/7364/7365, Fax: (66 2) 255 9976, E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Website: http://focusweb.org. Focus on the Global South is an autonomous programme of policy research and action of the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI) based in Bangkok. * Pushing Meltzer to the Max! AS thousands of protestors descend on Washington for the 16 April action against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, they can take comfort in the fact that a growing number of people in high places share their views. In the latest issue of The New Republic (17 April), former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz aired his unflattering assessment of the IMF, accusing the Fund of secrecy AND bad economics. (To Stiglitz's credit, secrecy is the greater sin.) And just last month, the US Congressional International Financial Institution Advisory Commission (the Meltzer Committee) released its findings, capturing headlines with its unanimous call to radically downsize the IMF and the Bank and to immediately cancel large amounts of debt. While the report was saying nothing more than what many critics have been saying for years -- that these institutions are deeply flawed and are doing more harm than good -- it has revived the languishing debate on the international financial architecture. In this issue of Focus on Trade, Walden Bello looks closely at the Meltzer Report, and concludes by calling on those gathering in Washington to pick up where the Meltzer Committee left off by calling for the Bank and the Fund to be closed down. Solidarity or Sanctions? Trade and labour linkages is one of those issues guaranteed to provoke strong reactions, which is not surprising because it cuts to the heart of ideology. In this issue of Focus on Trade, Mike Waghorne from the international trade secretariat Public Service International writes a letter to the editor, Peter Waterman writes an letter to ICFTU general secretary Bill Jordan, Patrick Bond writes about the dilemmas facing civil society in South Africa (an everywhere else) and David Bacon writes about the many views on labour linkages inside the trade unions. Enjoy the debate but don't expect a happy ending! In the final (and related) article, Walden Bello provides a stock-take of the 'third wave of democratisation.' Is it really happening, or is it just part of the globalisation hype? * IN THIS ISSUE Meltzer Report on Bretton Woods Twins Builds Case for Abolition but Hesitates Walden Bello Letter to the Editor Mike Waghorne Time for the ICFTU to move from anti-social (inter)national partnerships to a real global social partnership? Peter Waterman No time for reform Patrick Bond Can workers beat globalisation? David Bacon Washington and the Demise of the "Third Wave" of Democratisation Walden Bello * Meltzer Report on Bretton Woods Twins Builds Case for Abolition but Hesitates Walden Bello During the heated debate on whether or not to raise the US quota in the IMF in 1998, the US Congress voted for the quota increase but attached several conditions, including the creation of an independent body to look at the missions and performance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The report of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, better known as the "Meltzer Report" after its chairman Alan Meltzer, serves as a striking confirmation from the mainstream of what progressive critics of the Bretton Woods Institutions have been saying for the last 25 years. Among the most important claims in the corpus of critical literature that the report supports are the following: - instead of promoting economic growth, the International Monetary Fund institutionalises economic stagnation; - the World Bank is irrelevant rather than central to the goal of eliminating global poverty; - both institutions are to a great extent driven by the interests of key political and economic institutions in the G-7 countries-particularly, in the case of the IMF, the US government and US financial interests; - the dynamics of both institutions derive not so much from the external demands of poverty alleviation or promoting growth but to the internal imperative of bureaucratic expansionism or empire- building. There is little in the report that was not earlier
Re: guns, germs, steel
Sam P. writes: I haven't read Diamond but his theory, if one can call it that, seems like a more sophistacted variant of the old Euro-centric theories that Europe advanced over the rest of the world because Africa and Asia lacked the physical resources necessary to build capitalist civilization e.g. tropical soils are inferior hence lower productivity agriculture, arid cultures require irrigation and such societies are necessarily stagnant. But other climates are not necessarrily inferior though they are different. Yeah, but his work takes into account a hell of a lot of research that's been done since the old theories were developed. It's more complete and more sophisticated. Also, I don't see why a theory that points to the role of geography is inherently Eurocentric. As I said in my original review, Diamond makes a big effort not to be Eurocentric (though of course some leaks in). The fact that his theory of the Eurasian conquest ends up being similar to that of the rabbits taking over their ecological niche in Australia (but much bloodier and nastier) does not make the conquerors look very good. There seems nothing new about Diamond. William Mcneil in his *Plagues and Peoples* defends the idea that mass demographic disasters are the prime mover in social change. For example, he argues that the black plague diffused out of inner China into central Asia and finally into Western Europe. The mass die off created a labor shortage that greatly strengthed the hand of the the Eurpean yeomanry in their struggle against the upper classes.(Brenner?) As I noted in my original review, Diamond is a synthesist. He cites Mcneil and similar sources. Further, Diamond seems to fall into the trap of using China as a test case for a theory about Europe. In assessing why China and other societies lacked dynamism and failed to develop, he is offering a theory about Europe yet what makes China China and Africa Africa cannot be learned from a theory about Europe. These societies need to be explained in their own right as Mao (ReporT From Hunan) and Mariategui (Seven Theses on Peru)realized early on. As I've said several times, he really doesn't spend much time on the issue of why Europe beat China (since his emphasis is on why Eurasia as a whole -- which for him includes North Africa -- beat the rest of the world). But when he does, he tries to apply his more general theory, which is not derived from studying Europe. Rather, it's from ecology, genetics, and evolutionary biology, with some anthropology. Also, he does study China. However, as a Grand Synthesist, his results are probably seen as superficial by those who are experts on China. As I noted, his story of "why Europe won" isn't very satisfactory. As for defences against disease, that is a matter of natural selection and played one of the primary causal roles in the destruction and conquest of indigenous cultures by Europeans though the spread of diseases was more often unconscious than conscious. The Europeans didn't want to destroy the natives (which they ended up doing), they needed christian converts and cheap labor. Diamond is conscious of the conscious effort to utilize the Native Americans' lack of immunity to the "crowd diseases" of the Old World, as with the use of smallpox-infected blankets. My reading suggests that he's right that the results of the European invasion of the New World weren't planned ahead of time. Not only didn't the Europeans not want to kill off a potential slave labor force, but they shot themselves in the feet (in the long run) by destroying infrastructure such as the Inca irrigation systems. On a more abstract level, Diamond's ideas bear a prima facie similarity to a type of historical materialism defended by Alan Carling built on an analogy to natural selection (i don't think actual natural selection plays a role in Carling) where societies with lower development of productive forces are selected out by societies with higher development of pf's through a variety of causal mechanisms like superior weapons. I wonder of Diamond has read Carling. It's hard to tell, since Diamond doesn't have a bibliography, forcing us to slog through a bibliographical essay. Diamond's theory is similar, but then again, at least as you describe it, Carling's theory doesn't seem very original. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: Re: guns, germs, steel
Sam Pawlett wrote: I forgot to add that the Carling theory seems to beg the question since some societies have a higher level of pf's [productive forces] because they select out others without explaining how theses socities became that way in the first place. Diamond initially explains why some countries have a higher level of productive forces in terms of the plants and animals available, the geography, the climate, etc. (He does not emphasize the role of genetic differences between peoples (except for the role of resistance to diseases) or even cultural differences. Some cultures are more open to technical progress, but he treats this as a random variable. He presumes that all individual humans are basically the same in terms of seeking ways to improve their lives.) He then sees advantages as accumulating (as when the shift from hunting gathering to food production then encourages the improvement of farming). It should be stressed that in Diamond's work, the concept of "higher level of productive forces" does not appear. If he had used that term, "higher" would have been defined in terms of allowing a group to spread, grow in population, and conquer others. As I noted in my original review (available at http://clawww.lmu.edu/~JDevine/notes/gunsreview.html), technical progress is implicitly defined in similar terms. That seems inadequate. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Debt crisis
What's behind the debt crisis By Wadi'h Halabi Thousands of demonstrators in Washington this week will be adding their voices to the jubilee 2000 movement. This worldwide movement calls for canceling the unpayable debt of the poorest countries. What is behind the debt crisis, and what is the way out? On whose terms will it be resolved? Jubilee 2000 estimates that the world's 52 poorest countries, with a total population of 1 billion, alone owe an average of $354 per person. Debt service commonly consumes more than the education or health budgets of these countries, and in some cases, such as Rwanda, more than both combined. Despite massive payments to lenders, the debt burden continues to grow. Worse yet, income in these countries is falling, not rising, from the pitiful average of barely $300 a year. The economic historian Angus Maddison has estimated that in 144 capitalist countries, income per person declined almost one percent per year between 1973 and 1998. Per capita income in Nigeria fell from $1,000 in the early '80s to $300 in 1998. The phenomenon of debt outgrowing economy and income is not limited to the poorest countries. Between 1990 and 1999, the Japanese government's debt rose over 100 percent while the economy remained stagnant or fell in recession. This debt is now much larger than Japan's entire economy, and rising rapidly, while the Japanese economy is in recession. The U.S. economy is in its longest expansion ever. But total debt owed by households and businesses grew at least 11.7 percent last year, more than twice as fast as the economy as a whole, four times the growth in wages. One third of poor households in the U.S. spent 40 percent of their incomes on debt payments last year. With housing commonly devouring another 50 percent of income, can hunger and homelessness be far behind? The fundamental cause What is behind this phenomenon? The answer may be surprising to some. In the last analysis, the problem is that there is "too much" food, "too much" steel, "too much" of practically every commodity on world markets, indeed "too much" capital. Of course the 'too much" is entirely from the point of view of the capitalist class and their calculation of profitability. "In virtually every sector across [Asia]," reported the investor-oriented Far Eastern Economic Review in 1998, "The same intractable equation applies: Supply far outstrips demand. Basic materials, steel, cars, petrochemicals, semiconductors, the list [of excess commodities] rolls on." The Review called for "jettisoning the excess capacity." The opposite is true for workers and oppressed people around the world: there is not enough food, fuel, housing, education, healthcare. Behind the "overproduction" (for capitalists) and misery (for workers) lies the anarchy of capitalism. What is happening is a breakdown in the necessary balance both among the inputs that go into production, and between production and the effective demand of producers as well as consumers. Breakdowns such as this are ultimately behind capitalism's unending boom-bust cycles. For lenders, however, debts must be repaid, even if production for which they lent capital cannot be profitable because of gluts in the market, even if millions of indebted people have suffered wage cuts or job losses because of capitalism's gluts. Unemployment worldwide nearly doubled between 1989 and 1996, and now criminally afflicts over a billion people. The imbalances in the world economy are mounting. Debt is outgrowing economy and income. As a result, it is virtually guaranteed that most of the trillions (thousands of billions) of dollars in outstanding debt today worldwide will never be repaid. The real question now is, On whose terms will the debt be canceled, the working class' or the capitalists'? The capitalists' condition for forgiving the debt - through the IMF, the World Bank, or in bilateral negotiations - call for privatization, cheaper labor, more unemployment, cuts in education and health care, and destruction and idling of "overproduced" manufacturing and agricultural capacity. These are the kind of conditions that the U.S., Britain, and the International Monetary Fund have in mind when they agree to cancel some of the debt. The working class in the U.S. - and worldwide - has no interest at all in cheaper labor, greater unemployment, homelessness or hunger anywhere in the world. Working class terms for canceling the debt would therefore call for repudiation of the debt without condition, and for redirecting "excess capacity" and all resources to reconstruct the economy, achieve real social and economic equality in the world, and meet pressing human needs. People before profits
Re: Close the IMF
Dornbusch was just on Talk of the Nation on NPR. Just disgraceful. Spoke of the "poor IMF," it's working people's fault for electing bad governments, etc. From: Max Sawicky [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Close the IMF and World Bank FOCUS ON TRADE Number 48, April 2000
Labor anti-globalization
World trade unions vow to fight globalization By Scott Marshall and Jarvis Tyner DURBAN, South Africa - Bill Jordan, general secretary, of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), opened its 17th World Congress April 3 declaring, "The challenge of the 21st century for the trade union movement is to assert our political and industrial strength in the era of globalization." Over 1,000 delegates representing trade union federations from around the world, with a combined membership of 124 million, gathered here to discuss and debate the struggles ahead. This was only the second time the ICFTU had met on the African continent and the first time in South Africa. Jordan and others noted the special significance of meeting in a new, democratic South Africa after the long struggle against apartheid. The theme of the 17th Congress is "Globalizing Social Justice: Trade Unionism in the 21st Century." The week-long congress emphasizes many of the burning issues confronting labor, especially multinational corporate domination of world trade policies. Other issues include the fight against privatization, the economic and social rights of nationally and racially oppressed people, women, and youth. Economic assistance to developing nations and regions, eliminating the scourge of AIDS, the fight for jobs, sustainable economies, health care, public education, the environment and the debt crisis of impoverished nations are also on the agenda. A highlight of the week was a women's march from the city center to the International Convention Center where the congress is being held. There, 1,000 women were greeted by the delegates with music and speeches. The march was in solidarity with the World March of Women 2000 at the UN this year. In paying homage to the heroic struggles of the South African people and the worldwide role of labor in fighting to end apartheid rule, Jordan said, "Brothers, sisters, can there be a better place on earth than South Africa for us to reaffirm our commitment to trade unionism's fundamental values - a country whose trade unionists through their strength, determination and dedication, backed by the solidarity of other trade unionists around the world, moved center stage in the struggle to rid South Africa of oppression and minority rule?" He added, "We gather on the continent of Africa where the visible injustice of a global market system cries out for remedy. That remedy is our business." Zwelimzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), told the delegates, "The demonstrations in Seattle were global protest that signaled the end of the cozy club of government and big business." He pointed to rampant global capitalism as the culprit in forcing structural adjustments and privatization on underdeveloped countries. Vavi said that these policies have nothing to do with economic development, but are for debt repayment, to service the needs of finance capital. Labor must reject the notion that there is no alternative to multinational domination. He ended his remarks by noting the new growing mood of resistance to the present world order. We must remember that ever true slogan, he said, "'Workers of the world unite.'" Nancy Riche, of the Canadian Labor Council and chair of the ICFTU's Women's Committee, also spoke in the opening ceremonies. She said the plight of women is getting worse despite the best efforts of the progressive movements. "The wage gap is widening and women are working longer hours, getting less education and less pay," she said. Riche especially condemned export processing zones around the world, which employ a large percentage of women at substandard wages and in unhealthy, dangerous conditions. While the basic thrust of the congress is progressive and aimed at the multinationals and governments that support their interests, there are still some lingering cold war issues that beg discussion. Some delegates privately complained that the ICFTU is still trying to define itself in terms of its cold-war rhetoric and not focusing enough on trying to build an all-inclusive international trade union solidarity. Delegates speaking in the first plenary stressed the need to build world trade union unity to meet the crisis of globalization. Though not mentioned in the congress so far, Jordan has just returned from a trip to China to meet with the All China Federation of Trade Unions. In a press conference before the Congress, answering a question about his trip, Jordan said the ICFTU would not refuse to talk to any unions. Antonio Panzeri, a delegate from the Italian labor federation representing 2.3 million members, summed the issue up saying, "The ICFTU does not represent all the workers of the world. We must mobilize the resources of the entire world labor movement to win."
Re: Re: Close the IMF
At 02:35 PM 4/11/00 -0500, you wrote: Dornbusch was just on Talk of the Nation on NPR. Just disgraceful. Spoke of the "poor IMF," it's working people's fault for electing bad governments, etc. one of his main enemies is something called "populism," which refers to any kind of effort to control markets, corporations, etc. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 11 Apr 2000 -- 4:31 (#412)
SPECIAL NOTE: We're in the course of stopping smoking. The next several issues of the newsletter may be reduced in size. __ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 11 April 2000 Vol. 4, Number 31 (#412) __ CONTENTS News On Hate-Based Publishing Steve Busfield (BBC), "Irving loses Holocaust libel case," 11 Apr 00 Paul Goble (Radio Free Europe), "Hatred On The Web: [German Government Report on the Internet]," 5 Apr 00 What's Worth Checking: 10 stories -- NEWS ON HATE-BASED PUBLISHING Irving loses Holocaust libel case Steve Busfield (BBC) 11 Apr 00 Historian David Irving has lost his emotive libel case against the American academic who accused him of denying the scale of the Holocaust. After considering the case for almost four weeks, Judge Charles Gray ruled against Irving, saying he failed to prove his reputation had been damaged. Mr Irving, who outraged survivors of Nazi death camps, was seeking damages over Professor Deborah Lipstadt's 1994 book, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, which he claimed had generated waves of hatred against him. Professor Lipstadt and her publishers, Penguin Books, both denied libelling Mr Irving by branding him "a Holocaust denier" in a book which attacked revisionists alleged to have denied or downplayed the slaughter of 6m Jews during the second world war. Under British law, Lipstadt and her co-defendant were not able to rely solely on truth as a defence. Irving has said he would not appeal. In his closing speech, Mr Irving, 62, said the book was the culmination of a 30-year campaign against him that had left him the most "vilified" historian ever. Mr Irving said he had never claimed that the Holocaust did not occur, but did question the number of Jewish dead and denied their systematic extermination in concentration camp gas chambers. Arguing that the killing of millions was logistically impossible, he said that a judgment in his favour would not mean that the Holocaust did not happen, but that discussion was still permitted in England today. Eldred Tabachnik QC, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, welcomed the judgment. He said: "The board is pleased that David Irving's action against Professor Lipstadt and her publisher Penguin Books has been so clearly rejected by the British courts. The decision proves that David Irving is a falsifier of history. Irving follows the short line of Holocaust deniers who aim to resurrect Nazism by denying the planned destruction of the European Jews. "Although the Holocaust itself was not an issue at the trial, we welcome the fact that attempts to manipulate the truth about the tragic events of that time have been shown to be baseless." Both sides had been told the verdict yesterday, leaving the announcement of the result in court today somewhat muted. Mr Irving is now likely to face defence costs estimated at £2m. Mr Justice Gray said the charges he had found to be substantially true were that "Irving had for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence". That "for the same reasons, he had portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favourable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards and responsibility for the treatment of the Jews". The judge said he found that Irving was "an active Holocaust denier; that he was anti-semitic and racist and that he associated with right-wing extremists who promoted neo-Nazism". The judge said there were certain defamatory imputations which he had found to be defamatory of Irving, but said that in his judgment the charges against him which had been proved to be true were of "sufficient gravity" for it to be clear that the failure to prove the truth of other matters did not have any material effect on Irving's reputation. He said that "in the result therefore the defence of justification succeeds". - - - - - Hatred On The Web: [German Government Report on the Internet] Paul Goble (Radio Free Europe) 5 Apr 00 Washington, 5 April 2000 (RFE/RL) -- Neo-Nazis and other extremist groups are increasingly turning to the Internet to spread their messages, a tactic that limits the ability of national governments to restrict the speech of those who seek to incite ethnic hatred in many countries. The German government on Tuesday released its annual report about extremist threats in that country. The report said that the number of neo-Nazis there had dropped over the past year and that the authorities had had some success in limiting their recruitment efforts at skinhead concerts. But the report noted that the neo-Nazis and other anti-foreigner groups are increasingly turning to the Internet, a
Re: Re: Re: Close the IMF
At 02:35 PM 4/11/00 -0500, you wrote: Dornbusch was just on Talk of the Nation on NPR. Just disgraceful. Spoke of the "poor IMF," it's working people's fault for electing bad governments, etc. one of his main enemies is something called "populism," which refers to any kind of effort to control markets, corporations, etc. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine Not a fair characterization of Dornbusch's category of "populism," as you should know... Brad DeLong
Re: Re: Re: Re: Close the IMF
Dornbusch was just on Talk of the Nation on NPR. Just disgraceful. Spoke of the "poor IMF," it's working people's fault for electing bad governments, etc. one of his main enemies is something called "populism," which refers to any kind of effort to control markets, corporations, etc. Brad sez: Not a fair characterization of Dornbusch's category of "populism," as you should know... I believe that his hatred of populism goes beyond his explicit use of categories. Doug has a lot of good quotes from old Rudi which indicate where his loyalties lie. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Forrester Research: Most dot-com retailers face 'imminent demise'
http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000411D466 Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/
Re: Debt crisis
At 15:14 11/04/00 -0400, you wrote: What's behind the debt crisis By Wadi'h Halabi The fundamental cause What is behind this phenomenon? The answer may be surprising to some. In the last analysis, the problem is that there is "too much" food, "too much" steel, "too much" of practically every commodity on world markets, indeed "too much" capital. Of course the 'too much" is entirely from the point of view of the capitalist class and their calculation of profitability. "In virtually every sector across [Asia]," reported the investor-oriented Far Eastern Economic Review in 1998, "The same intractable equation applies: Supply far outstrips demand. Basic materials, steel, cars, petrochemicals, semiconductors, the list [of excess commodities] rolls on." The Review called for "jettisoning the excess capacity." Quite. A typical capitalist crisis of "overproduction". That is, overproduction relative to the limited purchasing power of the market, and in particular the impoverished masses of the world. The opposite is true for workers and oppressed people around the world: there is not enough food, fuel, housing, education, healthcare. Behind the "overproduction" (for capitalists) and misery (for workers) lies the anarchy of capitalism. What is happening is a breakdown in the necessary balance both among the inputs that go into production, and between production and the effective demand of producers as well as consumers. Breakdowns such as this are ultimately behind capitalism's unending boom-bust cycles. For lenders, however, debts must be repaid, even if production for which they lent capital cannot be profitable because of gluts in the market, even if millions of indebted people have suffered wage cuts or job losses because of capitalism's gluts. This is not true. Debts do not have to be repaid even from the point of view of the capitalists. All capitalists know that some have "bad luck". They all know that every so often society has to rally round to keep capitalism functioning. That usually involves injection of public funds coupled with restructuring that re-establishes capitalist enterprises from the wreckage of the crisis. Capitalist know well that as a class it is in their interests that current exploitation continue. In that sense they too, if push comes to shove, are in favour of living labour relative to dead labour. So long as they can exploit it. Unemployment worldwide nearly doubled between 1989 and 1996, and now criminally afflicts over a billion people. Nothing inherently criminal about it. (Although a lot of crime occurs). The growth of the reserve army of labour on a global scale is the result of the fair exchange of commodities according to the rules of capitalist exchange. It is also the inverse of the accumulating mass of capital in the metropolitan lands. The real question now is, On whose terms will the debt be canceled, the working class' or the capitalists'? True. The capitalists' condition for forgiving the debt - through the IMF, the World Bank, or in bilateral negotiations - call for privatization, cheaper labor, more unemployment, cuts in education and health care, and destruction and idling of "overproduced" manufacturing and agricultural capacity. These are the kind of conditions that the U.S., Britain, and the International Monetary Fund have in mind when they agree to cancel some of the debt. The working class in the U.S. - and worldwide - has no interest at all in cheaper labor, greater unemployment, homelessness or hunger anywhere in the world. Working class terms for canceling the debt would therefore call for repudiation of the debt without condition, and for redirecting "excess capacity" and all resources to reconstruct the economy, achieve real social and economic equality in the world, and meet pressing human needs. People before profits This article is a serious attempt to go beyond the widespread demand for debt cancellation. That is so well established that we must look beyond it. The article is clearly a marxist attempt to do so. IMO it does not go far enough to break the perspective of charity to the world's unfortunate poor. We must find ways to help people see the world economy in a completely different light. To emphasise that it is living labour that is important not dead capital. (That is not to say however that investment in the means of production is not needed) We have to get the point across that an envigoration of the economic life of Africa, Latin America and Asia is to the benefit of the people of North America and Europe even if the rate of growth there slows temporarily. A rise in the quality of life of third world peoples is essential if they are to have better opportunities without following in the environmentally destructive path of previous industrialisations. Indonesia is a topical test case. Theoretically, it is essential to grasp the marxist law of value and to do
Historical Inquiry
folks, i have a specific question to the list. I will be grateful if you can help me clarify this issue. Public and private responses are welcome. 1) how severely 1907 crisis (recession? depression? panic?) effected UK economy? was it felt more strongly in the US compared to UK? 2) I can not exactly trace the origins of 1907 crisis. do you have any clue about it? I have a set of data showing economic recession, depression and panic timeline in the "US economy" between 1808-1995 (great thanks to Geoff fellow from WSN).In this data, 1908 is classified as "panic". I don't know if this corresponds to the 1907 crisis I am talking about. what is this 1907 crisis to be exact? 3)In the encyl of international political economy (thanks to Patrick Bond for his extraordinary help), there is an information about business cycles "interrupted by severe financial panics--1873, 1882, 1890, 1893, 1920, 1929, 1931 and various 1980s-90s crises". where does 1907 crisis fit in this picture? or am I just stating a wrong year? any info is welcome! thanks, Mine Aysen Doyran Phd student Political Science SUNY/Albany [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Debt crisis
Chris, the article you quoted sounded like a gloss on the work of William Greider (a liberal journalist who writes for the U.S.-based NATION magazine). For example, see his April 10th article in the archive of the NATION at: http://www.TheNation.com/ Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~JDevine/JDevine.html
Vietnamese Union Delegation's visits Canadian Unions
On March 1st three members of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour arrived in Canada to visit with the Canadian Labor Congress and other labor groups and unions. The newspaper People's Voice conducted an interview with Cu Thi Ha. She is president of the VGCL. Here are some excerpts. The full text is in the April 1-15 edition of People's Voice (PV): PV Can you describe the trade union movement in Vietnam today? Its aims, its work, and structure? Cu Thi Hau: Today the only trade union centre in Vietnam is the VCGL. It now comprises 61 provincial federations of labour and 18 national industrial unions. The last national congress of Vietnamese trade unions was held in November 1998 with the theme "For the Cause of National Industrialization and Modernization; for Employment, Living Standards, Democracy, and Social Justice; for a Strong Working Class and Trade Union Organization." The tasks for the period 1998-2003 are as follows: (1) educate workers to build a strong working class; (2) campaign for efficiency in production for national construction; (3) protect and care for the rights and interests of working people; (4) encourage workers and employees to build a steady and transparent state apparatus; (5) build a strong trade union movement; (6) strengthen and expand international activities... PV: In one of your bilateral meetings, you said " world capital is now globalized-why not labour?" Can you elaborate? Cu Thi Hau: International solidarity of workers is the strength of the world labour movement for everyone. In the era of globalization, the workers are disadvantaged when compared with capital--which rallies for its own interests. If the labour movemet is not united, fails to promote solidarity and unity of action at national and international levels, we will be weakened, vulnerable to worse exploitation and capitalist attack. We need a stronger international trade union movement and solidarity to safeguard our hard won social gains, to effectively protect workers of all countries, and to cope with the challenges of today's globalizations. PVcould you comment on the current situation in the country: problems and successes Cu Thi Hau: After more that 14 years of renovation, Vietnam has recorded encouraging achievements. We have passed through the economic crisis and now entered the stage of stable development, gorwth, and laid the foundations for national industrialization and modernization. Before the regional financial crisis the country's growth rate was more than 8%. Now its close to 6%. Before 1986, Vietnam's economy followed a centralized model, but after that it shifted to a market oriented model. Vietnam is now self-sufficient in food and has become the third largest rice exporter in the world. Ten years ago Vietnam depended heavily on rice imports. Vietnamese goods are now exported to more than 120 countries. Inflation is now contained at under two digits. During the period of crisis however the inflation rate reach 774.7%. Vietnam's economic achievements have helped improve workers' living standards, developed production and business, and attracted foreign investments. By the end of 1999, about 60 countries had invested in Vietnam in 2,240 projects worth US 3.6 billion. Foreign investments have created 400,000 new jobs for the economy, and renovation in all economic sectors have created new industries, like oil and gas exploitation, electronics, car assembly, tourism services. However, we still face a lot of difficulties, including for example, poor infrastructure, low incomes, shortage of capital, low competitiveness, high population growth, a labour surplus combined with a lack of qualified and skilled labour, low living standards for workers... Cheers, Ken Hanly P.S. The term "socialism" is not mentioned once during the interview! Seems to me Vietnam is still callled the Socialist Republic of Vietnam though. The environment does not appear on the agenda anywhere.
Crane World
Filmed in an extremely gritty, almost sepia, black-and-white, "Crane World"
depicts a overweight, middle-aged Argentinian construction worker named
Rulo who is one step away from permanent unemployment. As part of a growing
neo-realist renaissance including films such as "La Ciudad" and "Central
Station," they offer a single-minded focus on the losers in the new, highly
competitive world economy. By the same token, none offers a vision of how
this situation might improve, least of all through the examples of their
characters, who are adrift like pieces of wood in a stormy sea.
Rulo, played by Luis Margani, has been trained by a friend to operate a
crane on a construction site in downtown Buenos Aires. The new job would
offer the 49 year old not only some security, but a sense of dignity. His
life has been a string of one dead-end odd-job after another. None has
provided him with income beyond what is necessary to sustain a very modest
life-style. He lives in a cramped apartment and drives to the construction
site in a battered sedan that periodically breaks down on the city streets.
None of this bothers the affable Rulo, who is always looking on the bright
side.
His pleasures are modest. Hanging out with male buddies, he prepares
barbecue in his kitchen, watches soccer matches on television, tinkers with
engines and chain-smokes cigarettes. The highlight of his life has been a
gig in his youth as a bass player with a rock band called the Seventh
Regiment, named after the military unit two of the band members served with.
An encounter with the proprietress of a sandwich stand near the
construction site leads to a new romance, soon after the woman reveals that
she was a big fan of the band. Keeping with his good-natured personality,
he only chuckles when she blurts out that he used to be so skinny. What
happened to him? He replies that we all get older.
Victim of his own excesses, Rulo discovers that his overweight condition
and general poor health excludes him from the crane operator's job he had
been banking on. In desperation he travels south to an arid and desolate
Patagonia where he has been told that another crane operator's job is just
waiting for him. Not only is the construction site willing to overlook the
physical condition of the workers, it soon becomes obvious that the
employer hardly cares whether they live or die.
A group of a dozen or so men, including Rulo, live in a run-down dormitory
where there is no running water. They work day and night in harsh
conditions. When the boss neglects to provide lunch day after day, the men
hold a meeting to discuss their options. We can not let them treat us this
way, one worker says. During the meeting Rulo remains silent.
Eventually they are all laid off. In a scene that epitomizes Rulo's
seemingly foolish determination to put the best spin on a bad situation, he
meets with the foreman who is putting him on a truck back to Buenos Aires.
They exchange pleasantries about how nice it is to have friends and to
share good times. In the final scene, we see a grim-faced Rulo in his
darkened apartment smoking a cigarette. What it lacks in dramatic
resolution, it more than makes up for in honesty about this character and
his lot in life.
The Rulos of this world constitute the overwhelming majority. All they are
looking for is the opportunity to share simple pleasures with friends and
loved ones. Driven by the lash of an increasingly competitive labor market,
they are forced to wander from country to country, or within a country
itself, looking for a permanent job that pays a decent living wage. At one
time Argentina had a powerful labor movement that influenced film-makers.
That labor movement, as is the case in the rest of the world, has been in
retreat. When it is reborn, it certainly will inspire a different kind of
movie with a different kind of central character. In the meantime, it is
essential that directors like Pablo Trapero have the audacity to describe
the world as it is, in contradistinction to the pleasant lies coming out of
Hollywood and its outposts overseas.
("Crane World" is currently being shown at the Screening Room in New York
City. It closes on April 13.)
Louis Proyect
(The Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org)
